Island of the Lizard King (book)
:For other uses of '''Island of the Lizard King', see'' Island of the Lizard King Island of the Lizard King is a single-player role-playing gamebook written by Ian Livingstone, illustrated by Alan Langford and originally published in 1984 by Puffin Books. It was later republished by Wizard Books in 2003, and again in 2018 by Scholastic Books with new illustrations by Vlado Krizan. It forms part of Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone's Fighting Fantasy series. It is the 7th in the series in the original Puffin series (ISBN 0-14-031743-0), 17th in the Wizard "Series 1" (ISBN 1-84046-491-7), and 10th in the Scholastic series (ISBN 1-40718-620-5). Creation Background - Back Cover ("Dragon" Edition)}} Like much of the ''Fighting Fantasy series, Island of the Lizard King is set in the fictional world of Titan; this particular adventure takes place on the continent of Allansia. The player's character begins the story by travelling from the populous city of Fang to the quiet coastal village of Oyster Bay, only to discover that the village is regularly being attacked by the Lizard Men of Fire Island, and that young men are being carried off to serve as slaves in their gold mines. The game proper beings with the player setting sail for Fire Island, intent on righting the situation. Like many other Ian Livingstone Fighting Fantasy books, such as Deathtrap Dungeon, Caverns of the Snow Witch and Temple of Terror, Island of the Lizard King has multiple paths which lead to the final confrontation, although the overall journey is fairly linear. This linear design, combined with the fact that there are a bare minimum of essential items to collect, means that any path can lead to a successful quest. However, some paths and items can make the adventure much more easy or difficult. Despite a distinct lack of "sudden death" sections in the book, several bruising encounters can make this a difficult quest to complete, even with a skill of 11 or more. This book is notable for the massive battle between the freed slaves and Lizard Men which takes place, one of the few large scale battles depicted in a Fighting Fantasy gamebook. How to Fight the Creatures of Fire Island/Equipment and Potions/Hints on Play The book in general follows the original rules set down in The Warlock of Firetop Mountain (see Game System). Equipment List - pg.16 *Sword *Leather Armour *Backpack *10 Provisions *Choice of one of three Potions (see Game System for generic fantasy setting choices) Cover and Illustrations Covers The original cover of the book was designed and illustrated by Iain McCaig. When the book was republished by Wizard a new cover was designed and illustrated by Martin McKenna that in many ways reflects the original cover of the Puffin Books publication. For McKenna: ''Island of the Lizard King was the final Fighting Fantasy book to be produced using the Coloured Number Format layout when originally published by Puffin. The "Special Limited Edition" of the Wizard version used gold embossing as opposed to the usual silver. In 2018 it was republished with a new cover by Robert M. Ball. Illustrations Puffin/Wizard Editions The interior illustrations, including the black and white map accompanying paragraph 149, were by Alan Langford. There were 32 full page illustrations and 5 minor repeated illustrations scattered throughout the text. There is also an exclusive illustration on the title page. The paragraphs with a full page illustration were: 1, 14, 30, 39, 48, 59, 71, 82, 101, 116, 128, 139, 149, 158, 168, 195, 211, 223, 235, 249, 254, 268, 279, 291, 305, 317, 325, 337, 350, 360, 379 and 390. Scholastic Edition The interior illustrations were by Vlado Krizan. There were 20 full page illustrations and 6 minor repeated illustrations scattered throughout the text. The paragraphs with a full page illustration were: 1, 14, 30, 48, 82, 101, 116, 139, 149, 168, 195, 211, 223, 235, 254, 279, 305, 325, 350 and 360. The full-page illustrations in the book were accompanied with a caption giving a short extract from the text. The map was by Leo Hartas. Intertextual References The Hero starts his journey in Fang, the setting of the previous gamebook, Deathtrap Dungeon. - pg.20 The Dungeon itself is mentioned by Mungo as the place where his father met his end. - 1 While some have suggested it is possible that the Hero of this book is the same individual as that of Deathtrap Dungeon (and by extension, also that of City of Thieves), it is nowhere explicitly stated that he is. Other Media An iOS/Android conversion of the book was produced by Tin Man Games and released in 2013. Main Characters YOU: Hero of Island of the Lizard King *Lizard King - Lizard Man *Mungo *Old Thief - Thief *Sama *Shaman - Headhunters Locations *Fang *Fire Island *Fire Island Prison Colony *Gold Mine *Headhunters' Village *Oyster Bay *Port Blacksand Encounters *Bear *Black Lion *Cave Woman *Crocodile *Cyclops *Giant Crab *Giant Dragonfly *Giant Lizard *Giant Wasp *Giant Water-Snake *Goblin *Grannits *Headhunters - Chief/Pygmy/Regular *Hill Troll *Hobgoblin *Humans - Delirious Prisoner/Pirates/Pirate Captain *Hydra *Lizard Men - King/Mutant/Regular/Two-Headed *Ogre *Orc - Guard *Razorjaw *Sabre-Toothed Tiger *Shape Changer *Slime Sucker *Spit Toad *Styracosaurus Other Creatures of Note *Gonchong *Marsh Hopper *Water Elemental Further Notes *10 instant failures, 1 victory, plus death by stamina loss or bad luck. *During the adventure it is possible to recover the magic helmet (over one hundred years old) of the fabled warrior-sorcerer named Sog. - 292 Errors *The map in the Scholastic edition mis-spells Salamonis as "Salamons". Dedication Puffin Edition For Roy Coleman - pg.5 Wizard Edition For Dave Holt, the unsung hero of Fighting Fantasy - pg.5 Scholastic Edition none See Also *''Casket of Souls'' *''Dicing with Dragons'' Reviews *Reviewed by Marcus L. Rowland in White Dwarf 53 (May 1984) "Open Box" (pg.16-17): External Links *Character Sheet - Retrieved 2019-10-26 *[http://www.gamebooks.org/show_series.php?id=11 ''Fighting Fantasy at Gamebooks.org] - Retrieved 2019-10-26 *[http://www.gamebooks.org/show_series.php?id=12 Fighting Fantasy (Wizard Series 1) at Gamebooks.org] - Retrieved 2019-10-26 *[http://www.gamebooks.org/show_item.php?id=44 Island of the Lizard King at Gamebooks.org] - Retrieved 2019-10-26 *[http://web.archive.org/web/20050406002535/http://www.fightingfantasy.com/ffb7.htm Island of the Lizard King at the Internet Archive record of the old] Fightingfantasy.com - Retrieved 2019-10-26 References Category:1984 books Category:Fighting Fantasy Original Series Category:Fighting Fantasy Wizard Series Category:Fighting Fantasy Scholastic Series